Ponyville High
by Cweecune
Summary: What would happen if the characters from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic were high school girls? Based on Episodes 1-2 of MLP:FiM
1. Chapters 1 through 4

**CHAPTER ONE**

Vandalism

**Thursday night. Ponyville High's gymnasium. **

_The punk jerked the spray can up and down and then put the finishing touches on her disasterpiece. It was the middle of the Friday night; the security cameras were off during the weekend. She laughed to herself as she threw the last can of spraypaint across the floor. She then had her four other gang members cover their creation with the "Summer Sun Homecoming" sign that the art club had painted._

_Their leader put her black hood over her midnight-blue hair and then hoisted herself up the wall with the rope attached to the window followed by the others, her deep voice echoing off the large Ponyville High walls.A giant black stallion was spray-painted across the front wall of the gym, with moons in its eyes and a smaller white horse under it. The words "Celestia's DOOM" were written in red._

**CHAPTER TWO**

A Request

**Thursday evening. Teresa "Twilight" Sparkle's room.**

"I know you're sad about transferring," said Celestia.

Twilight bit her lip. "I don't see why the office wouldn't take my scholarship," Twilight said, stuffing books in her backpack. She adjusted her glasses, and sighed. "I guess I'm not a good enough student…."

"Twilight, we've known each other since you were inkindergarten," she said. "I've seen you crying countless times because you got a B on some exam or another. Only real students cry over grades."

Lest was right: Twilight was the spitting image of a nerd. Her medium-length brown hair was dorked out by her round bangs, and her glasses were rounder than anything. She always wore sweater vests and Mary Janes on the weekends, and spent all her free time studying in her room.

"Ponyville High looks dumb," she said. "No uniforms, no organization, no order. That's the way I see it."

The two girls sat on the bed. Twilight looked down at her pink and purple pajama bottoms; this was their last slumber party where the two friends were going to the same school.

"You know how happy I'd be if Canterlot Academy decided they wouldn't have uniforms anymore?" Celestia laughed. "Ponyville doesn't look _too_ bad."

Twilight shrugged. "I just don't see why you put me on Homecoming committee so soon. Thanks to you, I have to root around some school I don't even know the routes to and look for some random girls that I barely even know by the end of the night."

"They're a few of the schools' most trusted students," she said. "And I'm only going to be touring Ponyville High with my dad for a week. You know how the mayor loves to snoop around the schools and make sure everything's going okay and the teachers are actually teaching. Besides, Ponyville High has an awesome library, I hear. You can stay there until the dance; I already arranged you to have your Homecoming dress sent to you there."

"Do I really need a dress?" Twilight asked.

"It's the Summer Sun Homecoming DANCE. Of course you'll need a dress; I knew you wouldn't have one on such short notice, so I got the school's fashion club president to get you one of their dresses before the dance."

"Yeah, I guess Homecoming's kind of a big deal," Twilight admitted. "I'm just kind of nervous about bumping into your sister…"

"Let's not talk about Luna," Celestia muttered.

Ever since Luna had been expelled from Canterlot Academy for breaking numerous important rules and then was transferred to Ponyville High, Celestia and her dad had been extremely strict about not talking about her. Lest felt like it was her fault that her sister was expelled; she was the one who reported her to the office for someone even mentioned Luna's name to her, Lest would change the subject never showed up at school, before and after she was transferred to 's almost like she disappeared off the face of Equestriopolis.

"Sorry, Lest," Twilight mumbled, feeling awful.

"It's okay…" Celestia said. "I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time at Ponyville."

"No I won't! I'm going to be away from you!"

"Twilight, I can't be your only friend. You have to learn to make some new ones. Spike doesn't really count."

The student fell back on her bed. Her little brother Spike would be going to Ponyville with her, and they had the closest bond ever, being only a year apart. "I go to school to study, not to make friends."

Her platinum-blonde friend burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"What?" Twilight asked, sitting up straight. "It's true!"

"I just don't see how you can just isolate yourself from people," Lest explained.

**CHAPTER THREE**

First Day

**Friday morning. Ponyville High North Building. **

Twilight decided to just stick with black pants, a white oxford tucked in, and a purple sweater vest. She wasn't used to wearing her weekend clothes during the weekday, so she replaced her usual jeans with more professional black pants and wore her eight-sided pink star brooch. Her friends at Canterlot Academy used to make fun of her for wearing "old lady" jewelry, but she could care less. She parked her car in the student parking lot, her purple backpack on her back, her books, notebooks and planner her arms.

She had her planner opened up to the list of girls she was going to have to find by the end of the day to talk about the Homecoming dance:

1) FOOD: Jackie Apple. Goes by Apple Jack. Her family supplies half of the cafeteria's food supply.

2) DECORATIONS: Rarity Diamond. President of the Ponyville Fashion Club.

3) CHOIR FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF HOMECOMING QUEEN: Fiona Shys. Everyone calls her Fluttershy. Vice President of the Choir Club.

Twilight was happy that it was only three of them. They wouldn't be too hard to find, she didn't think. How many girls in the school were named and nicknamed Apple Jack, Rarity, and Fluttershy?

"I'll have to intercom them," Twilight said as she helped her brother out of the car. Spike was a freshman, but liked to act that he was on Twilight's level, since he was taller than her and helped her out with most of her organization. "I don't know how else I'll find them in this town of a school."

"It's not much bigger than CA," said Spike. "It has four buildings, just like Canterlot did."

The two students entered the school's north building to find a conundrum of students, scattered in the hallways either laughing or talking. Some of them had footballs and lacrosse sticks; others were holding play scripts and notebooks for drawing and writing. Twilight noted that everyone seemed to have their place; everyone but her.

On the bright side, she figured that her schoolwork was going to be a lot easier in a public school. She studiously shoved her thick-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose and walked down the hall, trying to find her locker number. Some students stared at her and waved friendlily, but Twilight ignored them and kept her eyes straight ahead.

Spike sighed. "Come on, Twilight; try to make _some_ friends."

"I came here to study, Spike," she said. "Not to socialize."

"Everyone here's so friendly though!" he said. "Come on; at least talk to _somebody._"

Twilight capitulated. "Fine. One person, and then I'm going straight to class."

She looked around the hall. She saw a girl with huge blonde curls walking—well, more like _bouncing_—down the hall, books in hand, humming a little tune to herself through her smiling, pink-glossed lips. Twilight interrupted the party going on inside the girl's head to talk to her.

"H-Hey," said Twilight. "I'm new here, do you—HEY!"

The girl took one glance at her and then rushed off, seeming to be in a hurry. The dorky student harrumphed.

"I told you," Twilight said, defeated.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Apple Jack

**Noon. Ponyville High cafeteria.**

Twilight looked at what the lunch lady was fixing her: a club sandwich with a sliced apple on the side and a milk carton. It was weird to see how nice and healthy this cafeteria was; it was no fancy Canterlot dining hall, but it wasn't a stereotypical public school lunch of mystery meat and whatever the heck they were serving. Everything at the cafeteria was fresh and delicious, from the crispy apples they gave everyone to the professional-looking cupcakes.

The new student looked around; she was dreading this time of the day. She didn't have a group, since everyone had made their groups and stuck with them since Freshman year. Just as she was deciding to head towards the library for lunch, a southern accent chirped from behind her.

"Looks like you could use a chair!"

Twilight turned around. A freckled girl with sun-kissed skin and messy blonde hair was sitting with a similar-looking older boy and younger girl at the table, holding out a chair for her. She was wearing a plaid shirt with jeans and cowboy boots, and had a cowboy hat on. An apple charm hung from her neck on a gold chain.

"No, thanks, I was just going to go to the library to—"

"Eat books?"

The three laughed like crazy. The girl with the cowboy hat sat her down at the table.

"My name's Jackie, but everyone calls me Apple Jack, because my family owns the apple farm on the outskirts of town."

"Oh!" Twilight sparked. She pulled out her list. "I'm Teresa Sparkle. I'm new here, and my friend put me on the Summer Sun Homecoming committee to confirm all of the plans for tonight. Your family's in charge of the food being provided, right?"

"Yes ma'am!" the cowgirl declared happily. "My whole family runs the food around here; we provide the cafeterias with all of our produce, but we specialize in apples. Everyone comes up with the funniest nicknames for me and my siblings; that there is Mac, but we call him Big Macintosh."

Twilight was surprised at the student body's cleverness. Apple. Macintosh. She laughed a little to herself. The large-framed, muscular senior on the opposite edge of the table waved silently with a smile. He had a red plaid, country shirt on that fit snugly against his large frame.

"And there's Apple Bloom," she said. "In 8th grade, we called her Apple Seed."

"Very funny, Jackie!" Bloom said. The freshman looked a lot like her sister, but paler and with dark red hair pulled back in a huge red bow. She looked a bit different than her brother and sister; instead of wearing a country shirt, she had a white t-shirt on with flowers on the front, and was wearing a red skirt that went to the top of her knee. She was wearing cowboy boots that looked a little too big for her; probably hand-me-downs from her sister.

"In Canterlot we all had funny nicknames as well. Does anyone go by their real names?" Twilight joked.

"A few. Do you have a nickname?"

"Twilight. My best friend calls me that."

"Twilight it is then!" she said. "That'd make since because of your last name. Ha ha ha! I think you and I are gonna be great pals!"

The bell rang for the next period. Twilight barely got to finish her lunch, so she wrapped her remaining apple slices in a napkin and stuck them in her backpack. The few slices she had were delicious; Apple Jack's family must be rolling in money from the way their produce tasted.

"Hey, Twilight, catch!" shouted Jackie, and through her a cupcake with green icing and a tiny apple slice on it.

"An apple flavored cupcake?"

"Sweet Apple Acres' and Sugarcube Corner's collaboration," she explained. "Pinkie Pie came up with the recipe. I'm sure you'll meet her later on."


	2. Chapters 5 through 8

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Rainbow Dash

**Afternoon. P.E., Twilight's least favorite course. **

Twilight dressed out into her gym shorts and shirt. The shirt was a neutral green and had the Ponyville High's colt logo on it with her name scribbled in a white box with a sharpie marker. She hated P.E. at her old school, and with Ponyville having the lead track team in Equestriopolis's whole high school district, she doubted that she was going to like being measured up alongside pure athletes.

The coach had the students do volleyball drills, slamming volleyballs over the net over and over. Twilight blew air through her teeth, but went along with it as best as she could. _At least I got the food confirmed before school let out,_ Twilight thought as she shot the ball straight under the net. _Now all I have to do is confirm the decorations and—_

Her thoughts were shoved out of her ear when she was forced off her feet and to the ground. All she could see were flashes of red, orange and yellow before she collided with the gym floor. Luckily she didn't hit her head that hard, but the girl who had knocked her was now on top of her, her stomach across hers.

She heard the coach's shrill whistle. "Dash!" yelled the coach. "Stop fooling around and get back up!"

"Sorry, coach!" the girl yelled. The voice was quirky and high-pitched, but rusty as if it were a little hoarse. She hopped up and helped Twilight up. Twilight scrutinized the girl; she had wild purple eyes and long, obviously dyed hair, layered red, orange, and yellow. She was wearing the regular P.E. uniform, but her green-blue-purple socks made her look like a human rainbow. She had a distinctive sky-blue sweatband on under her messy red bangs. Twilight looked closer to see that a cloud with a rainbow-colored thunderbolt was stitched into the side of the band.

"Heh, sorry for the spill. I need to tie my shoes more often."

Twilight looked down as she tied her shoes. Her shoes were sky-blue Nikes with cloud-colored wings painted on the sides. Twilight remembered what Spike said about making new friends. She decided just to give it a shot.

"You really like colors, don't you?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, I like standing out," the girl replied, finishing the double-knot and picking up a volleyball. She served it across the net; Twilight watched it sore as fast as lightening over the net.

"I can tell." Twilight picked up a volleyball. "Your hair's really pretty; did you dye it yourself?"

The rainbow girl put her fiery long hair in a ponytail. "Nah, I have my friend Rarity do it for me every other month or so; just when my roots need to be touched up. I wanted to dye it green, blue, and purple too, but the administration won't let me. Shit, they almost didn't let me dye it the first three colors!"

"Well it's pretty like it is, I think," Twilight said, and served the ball straight into the net.

The coach blew his whistle again. The class had free period for the remaining twenty minutes.

"I'm Twilight," she continued. "I'm kind of new here…."

"Oh, no wonder you look different! Well, I'm Roxy Dashington; everyone calls me Rainbow Dash."

"You're kind of boyish to be nicknamed something like Rainbow Dash."

"Well, I like colors, and…well, I have two gay dads…."

"Oh."

Twilight didn't really know what to say. They kind of sat there awkwardly for a few seconds, until Dash said, "Yeah, I mean, I get made fun of a bit, but I don't really care. It's kinda badass and different."

"I get the Rainbow part...why do they call you Dash?"

"I'm the head girl of the track team, and the fastest one in the school."

Twilight laughed. "Kind of a big ego you got going on there," she joked. "The _fastest_? You know Ponyville High has the best track team in the city…."

A few kids looked at them. They all knew Dash was the fastest; how would someone question her about it?

Dash narrowed her eyes, and her volume grew. She wasn't really angry; it was all an act of showing confidence. "Of course I'm the fastest! I'm the only one who could run to the end of this gym and back in ten seconds flat!"

"Ten seconds? Are you serious? This is a pretty big gym."

More kids were paying attention. Dash was popular for her track skills, and she loved a challenge.

"Of course."

"_Prove_ it!"

Twilight playfully held up the stopwatch app on her phone and stepped back, finger hovering over the "Start" button. She usually didn't pull her phone out during classes, but P.E. didn't count as a class for her, and this was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. Besides, the coach was asleep in his office down the hall. A few kids started chanting "Dash! Dash! Dash!" until the whole class was yelling her name. Dash smirked, and made her way to the end of the gym, under the large "Summer Sun Homecoming" sign. She lowered her body to the runner's position.

Twilight yelled, "THREE, TWO, ONE—GO!"

Rainbow Dash sped across the gym, and everyone exploded with cheering. Before Twilight could blink, Dash was halfway across the gym. Within four seconds, she was on the other side, tagging the wall, and shot back to the other side. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing: she was almost a blur of color, like a fire bolt softened by the cool colors on her socks and sweatband.

The class hushed their cheering as Twilight stopped the timer and read the results aloud in disbelief.

"9.89 seconds."

The gym class cheered, and Dash was barely panting.

"What'd I tell you? Ten seconds flat."

"Technically, it was 9.89 seconds," Twilight joked.

Dash roared with laughter. "You're HILARIOUS! We need to hang out sometime—well, if my dads let me borrow the car. Maybe you can come with me next time Rarity re-touches my roots."

The bell rang before Twilight could reply.

"Gotta go!" Dash said.

"Wait!" Twilight chased after her, which wasn't an easy task. "You said something about knowing Rarity. Isn't she the president of the fashion club?"

Dash stopped and turned. "Yeah, we hang out sometimes. She's the craziest diva in school; she's good with hair, though!"

"Where could I find her after school? I need to talk with her about the Homecoming decorations."

"She's usually in the East Building after school, in the Fashion Room, but she's in charge of decorations for the Homecoming dance. She'll be in the gym."

**CHAPTER SIX**

Rarity

**After school. Gymnasium. **

After Twilight rounded up Spike after classes ended, she went to the gym to check on Rarity's decorations. The large makeshift venue had completely transformed since Twilight's P.E. class: it had a DJ booth on a massive pedestal in the middle, and large, sparkly sapphire ribbons on the walls with the occasional large bow. A few tables with emerald tablecloth were adorned with vases overflowing with daisies and food wrapped in plastic so it'd be fresh by the time the dance started. A few girls were finishing up tying the gold balloons to the DJ booth and tables. Two large banners hung on opposite sides of the gym, one with a sun and the other with a moon. All of the colors worked harmoniously together.

"Oh my gosh," Spike gasped.

"These decorations are amazing!" Twilight exclaimed. "It looks like they're just finishing up…. Where do you think this Rarity girl is?"

"I don't know, but that chick over there is hot," Spike gawked. He pointed to the young woman with shiny, gracefully curled black hair. She was wearing a very professional-looking white blouse tucked into a deep violet pencil skirt, with 5-inch high heels to match perfectly. She was holding a clipboard and wore librarian-style glasses on the brim of her pointy but beautifully sculpted nose.

"NO! No, not there, Bon Bon; too high up, darling, move it down. Lyra! There needs to be TWO golden balloons and ONE sapphire one."

The girl with the pixie-cut platinum blonde hair and letterman jacket grumbled. "Bonnie, I can't believe you got me into this…."

"I told you we can hang out after we finish this, now hush!" the creamy-skinned, curly-haired girl hissed back.

"I'm sorry I'm making you so tense, dears," the lead girl apologized. She wrapped a curly hair around her finger. "We're almost done; all we need is the glitter on the floor, and I called Derpy to take care of that. Lyra—on second thought, keep the balloons like you had them before."

Lyra moaned.

Twilight bit her lip. She didn't know if this was a teacher or a really, really mature student. Whatever the case, she didn't want to disrupt such beautiful organization. She tapped the head girl on the shoulder.

"Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt, miss," Twilight said. "I'm here to check on the decorations for the Summer Sun Homecoming. Do you know where I can find Rarity Diamond?"

She turned around. Her face glistened with blue eye shadow, blush, and a whole tube of lipstick. She HAD to be a teacher.

"Yes, dear, you're talking to her!" she said, putting a manicured hand to her chest. Twilight noticed a triple-diamond ring sparkling on her ring finger. "Ah! You must be Twilight. Celestia told me that I'd be expecting you! Do you like the gym? I sure do have an eye for design!"

Lyra rolled her eyes. Bon Bon gave her a punch on the arm.

Spike smiled blissfully as Rarity chuckled to herself. "Now, what can I help you wi—GAH!"

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"YOUR HAIR! It's so…so tangly!"

Twilight laughed. "It gets frizzy during the day; I had P.E. a few hours ago, and didn't have a ponytail holder…It's only a little frizz compared to what it usually is."

"A _little_?" she moaned. "Aren't you going to the Homecoming dance?"

"Of course I am…."

"I'm doing your hair. No, no need to thank me! The pleasure is all mine! Besides, I'm providing your dress."

Oh. Twilight was so busy with trying to organize the Homecoming plans that she completely forgot about the dress. She heaved a sigh and followed Rarity out of the gym. As they left, they ran into a girl with shaggy, yellowish hair. She tripped and most of the glitter she was carrying went everywhere.

"Derpy, do be careful with that!" Rarity scolded as she helped her off the ground.

Rarity dragged Twilight to the Fashion Room in the East building, where she had her endless supply of cosmetics, jewelry, and hair things all lined up on the counter in front of the lit-up mirrors. She tried curling Twilight's hair, but it fell down right when she put the curlers in. She decided just to comb and straighten it. She insisted that Twilight take off her glasses.

"What prescription do you wear?" she asked.

"-4.00" Twilight said. "I used to wear contacts, but…"

"That's my same prescription!" Rarity chimed. She gave Twilight a pair of contacts, and Twilight reluctantly put them on. Rarity did her make up next; dark eyeliner, mascara, and nude lipstick. She skipped blush, since Twilight's skin "wasn't pale enough". Twilight didn't know why she was going along with this. Rarity just kept telling her, "Trust me, darling, this is for your own good."

When she spun Twilight around to look in the mirror, Rarity was right; Twilight looked pretty, so pretty she couldn't recognize herself. Rarity had freed Twilight's hair of all frizz, and her eyes were big and beautiful without her glasses.

"You look so _gorgeous_!" Rarity squealed. "Do you want to try on your dress now?"

"Maybe later," Twilight said. "The dance isn't until 8."

"Right," Rarity said. She sat in a director's chair by Twilight; the drama club sometimes put some of their things in the Fashion Room for storage. "Now, dear, you were telling me where you were from?"

"Well, I transferred from Canterlot Academy—"

"You went to school with Celestia at _Canterlot_?"

"Well, yeah…."

"I just _love_ Canterlot! The glamour, the high grades, the cute uniforms…. I'd _die_ to go to that school! But, you know, living with a mother and father who are away all the time, some things you just have to sacrifice. It saves us a LOT of money, and my parents thought that Sweetie Belle would have a better time here."

"Sweetie Belle?" Twilight asked.

"My sister. She's a freshman."

"Ahh. Yeah, my brother's a freshman too. And I understand about the sacrifice... Canterlot didn't accept my scholarship essay this year, so I had to transfer to a more affordable school."

"Aww. Well, what can you do? I suppose we just have to make the most of what we have. I'm so glad I have someone who understands me! We're going to be the best of friends!"

Twilight smiled weakly, but when her eyes drifted towards the clock, she flipped.

"Uh oh!" she said. "I have to get to the choir room! Do you know where I can find it? I need to see Fiona Shys."

"Everyone calls her Fluttershy," Rarity said. "The choir room is only a floor below this room, actually."

Twilight grabbed Spike, who was sitting outside the Fashion Room (Rarity had a girls'-only rule) and the two were out the door with the dress in less than five seconds, Spike being dragged by the hood of his hoodie. He held up a "call me" gesture to Rarity right before they exited.

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Fluttershy

**4:15 PM. Hallway leading towards the Choir Room. **

"Dude, did you even SEE her figure?" Spike said. "Perfect curve!"

"Spike, you're insane," she said. "She looked like she could've been 25, and you still can't grow any facial hair."

"I got my first chest hair yesterday, actually!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. As they walked down the hall, the sound of singing was coming closer and closer. It sounded like a choir of songbirds rather than high school students.

When they finally got to the room, they saw a mousy-looking girl with long, blonde hair conducting a group of about twenty or thirty freshmen and sophomores singing what sounded like Ponyville High's school anthem.

The conductor's hands dropped down as the song ended, and the students were quiet.

"Um, I'm sorry," the girl said. Her voice was barely above a murmur. "A few quick notes and then we're dismissed. I'm sorry, but, Swirl, try not to clench your jaw so much while you sing; it wears your voice out, and I wouldn't want you to lose your voice. And Jay, but your pitch is a _teeny_ tiny bit high. If you could lower it a bit, that'd be nice."

"Of course, Fluttershy!" the blue-shirted freshman said.

"Thank you. Okay, I'll see you all at seve—"

"Excuse me!"

The girl screamed, and threw her baton up in the air, hitting the ceiling. She spun around and flailed her arms until she grabbed onto her conductor's stand for support.

Twilight backed up. The girl looked frightened; her side-swiped bangs drooped into her eyes, and she adjusted the sleeves of her baby-pink turtleneck, embarrassed. Twilight noticed a clip in her hair in the shape of a butterfly. The kids laughed, and then started getting their backpacks and exiting.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Twilight started. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

The conductor nodded, her eyes pointed to her Uggs. She looked up at Twilight for a bit, and then looked at her hands. Twilight tried a friendly grin, but it came out a little awkward.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. I was here to check on the music your choir team was preparing for the Summer Sun Homecoming for the announcement of the Homecoming Queen. It sounded beautiful! Are you Fluttershy?"

"Ye—yeah…"

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Um, yes, I'm… Flutter…shy…"

Twilight grinned again. Fluttershy bit her lip, as if she was going to cry.

"Well, uhh…. Sorry about the intrusion. Thank you for getting the music ready; it sounds wonderful! Well, I guess I'm, uh, gonna go…"

She went outside the room to meet Spike. Fluttershy could see Spike behind her bangs.

"OH! Are you a freshman? I LOVE freshmen!"

Spike entered the room. He didn't normally like being called a freshman, but for a cute girl's attention, he didn't mind at all.

"He's my baby brother," Twilight laughed. "Come on, Spike—"

"His name's Spike? That's sooo cute!" she gushed.

"It's a nickname I got from my haircut," he explained.

"Yeah, well, we'd better get going—" Twilight said. "The dance is in a few hours, and I still need to go to the library to—"

"So, Spike, where did you transfer here from?"

"Twilight and I came from Canterlot Academy."

Twilight dragged Spike out the door, but Fluttershy followed. "Do you sing well? Maybe you could join the choir. Mostly freshmen and sophomores join, since all the seniors and juniors are busy with other stuff. I don't mind though; it's nice to give them a place when all the upperclassmen are so mean to them….."

Spike continued to make conversation with her on the way to the library. Twilight sighed.

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Pinkie Pie

**4:45 PM. Outside the library.**

It took them a while to reach the opposite building, where the library was, and Fluttershy was a slow walker. Twilight figured that she was sensitive, so she didn't want to just push the poor thing away. But they seemed to be talking _forever_!

"Oh, I forgot to even ask you how your first day at Ponyville High was! Moving to a new school is scary; my mom and dad transferred me here when I was a sophomore, and it was sooo scary. How was your first day at school?"

Twilight halted in front of the library. "WELL I guess we better get going! I have a lot of homework to do. And Spike needs his nap before he goes out partying 'till sunrise…."

"You poor thing!" Fluttershy pouted. "I'm sure there are plenty of tables in there that you can rest your head on…."

Fluttershy tried to follow them into the library, but Twilight had had enough. She grabbed her shoulder and dragged her away from the library door, almost forcefully. "Yep, you're certainly right!" Twilight said. "See you at the dance, Fluttershy. Can't wait to hear the choir. Good bye!"

She slammed the door in Fluttershy's face. It was dark in the library; the room was closed for the day, but Celestia had told Twilight that they didn't care if students walked in after hours. The library didn't have any windows, so it was pitch dark with the lights out.

"Fluttershy seemed fun," Spike said.

"Because she showered you in compliments," Twilight retorted.

"Oh, come on, Twilight; you could at least be nice—"

"NICE? Spike, we don't have time for this; I'm nice enough, being thrown into a school with a bunch of crazy girls who dye their hair weird and obsess over freshmen and have weird accents. Everyone here seems so _unfocused_; I miss Canterlot already!" She gave a tired sigh. This whole day had exhausted her; all she wanted to do was get her studying done, put that stupid dress on, and get the Homecoming dance over with. "Spike, where's the light? I can't see crap in here…."

The lights showered the library to expose balloons, girls, guys, and food. A curly blonde-haired girl bounced up and down and led the others in a hearty, "SURPRISE!"

Twilight wanted to collapse. Just when she thought everyone was crazy, it had to get crazier….

"Hi!" the blondewad chirped. Twilight noticed her from the beginning of the day, the girl who rushed by her without saying anything. She had on a pink blouse with a yellow skirt and blue leggings. She had an ear-to-ear smile. "Isn't this exciting? I decided to host my before-Homecoming party in the library! I heard the rumor that you were coming to …."

The perky bimbo followed Twilight down the library until Twilight stopped at the drink table and grabbed herself a soda. Lord knew she needed it. The girl went on blabbering a mile a minute. Twilight noticed on her wrist a silver charm bracelet with a bunch of balloon charms on it, some yellow, a few blue, like her large, circular eyes.

"My friends call me Pinkie Pie!" she said. "I'm the head cheerleader!"

"I can tell," Twilight grumbled, the soda hissing as she popped it open.

"My favorite color is pink, and I throw, like, every single party in this school. I know EVERYONE here, so I was COMPLETELY surprised when I didn't know you in the hall and I was like 'OH MY GOD THAT'S HER!' so I decided to throw the party in the library so that you could have a bunch of new friends so that you won't be lonely and now YOU DON'T _NEED_ TO WORRY because I got you lots and lots of friends! You're gonna have a great time here, see?"

Twilight looked up from her soda to see Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She nodded tiredly. Of course they all knew Pinkie was planning this. God forbid they warn the new kid.

"Yeah, well, it's kinda funny, because, I have a lot of work to do, so, uh, you guys have fun," Twilight muttered, and left after carrying two more cans of caffeinated soda. Spike was nowhere to be seen, but Twilight could care less.

Pinkie Pie looked back at the other four and shrugged. "I kinda understand. Maybe she isn't the partying type?"


	3. Chapters 9 and 10

**CHAPTER NINE**

The Party

**5:15 PM. The south wing of the library.**

Twilight should have gotten all of her Advanced Pre-Cal done by now, but the partiers were distracting her. She looked at everyone; Pinkie was standing on a table with a karaoke machine, singing "Equestrian Girls" as loud as she could. From the way everyone cheered her on, it was like she was Katy Pony herself.

The distracted student turned back to her books, but she was interrupted again by a _thump._ She spun her head around to see Spike collapsed on the carpeted floor and laughing his tongue off.

"Spike, get up," Twilight moaned.

Spike laughed, and picked himself up. "Twilight, we're doing karaoke! Come on, you should join us!"

"I have a lot of work to do. My head is pounding."

"It's your first day of school; I'm sure you don't have _that_ much."

"Well, I do, so go party or whatev—Spike, is that beer?"

Spike downed the last of the liquid remaining in the brown bottle, and then put it on the table next to Twilight's book. He hiccupped. "Yep!"

"Oh no. I gotta get you home before the dance; there's no way I'm letting you go intoxicated…."

Spike laughed again. "You should relax, Twilight; it's a party!"

Twilight pushed him, and he collided with a bookshelf. He continued his laughter as he stumbled back to the other side of the library. The tired student put a book over her head and shoved her nose into the table, defeated.

"I _had_ to screw up my scholarship paper!" Twilight lamented. "I just _had_ to! Ugh. I'm so stupid. Here I thought I was going to continue my studies as normal, but _silly me_, these crazy public school kids are driving me to do otherwise!"

She heard a loud, thundering noise coming from the other side of the library, opposite from the partyers. She got out of her chair to look outside the large window, where the noise was coming from, but it was too dark outside to see anything. All she could hear was laughter, glass breaking, and booming rap music. She gulped; the sound was strangely close to the direction where the gym was. "I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a perky voice. "COME ON TWILIGHT! Get your dress on; the dance is starting!"

Twilight went to the bathroom, where a lot of girls were changing. Pinkie helped Twilight with her dress.

"I think I might just go home, Pinkie," Twilight said. "Your friends gave my little brother alcohol."

"Alcohol?" Pinkie asked. "Come on, Twi! I'd never set a bad example on the freshies; I gave him root beer. My guy friends probably told him it was beer. They love picking on the new kids!"

Twilight chuckled. "Are you serious?"

"Yep! Spike's drunkenness is all in his head. It's kind of a mean prank, but we think it's pretty adorable. We're all about pranks here, if you haven't noticed already! Ha ha!"

Twilight giggled again. She looked at her dress in the mirror: it was a deep violet with slightly poofy sleeves, and a pink ribbon belt. Rarity had given her knee-high Converse to match, with pink shoelaces. Twilight had to admit that it looked exactly like something she would wear; Celestia had probably given the fashionista all of her info. She took her starry brooch off of her vest and put it on the ribbon belt. It matched harmoniously.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her stomach knotting itself in circles; either the ribbon belt was too tight, or something was wrong. "Oh God…."

"Come on, Twi!" Pinkie cheered. "Let's go to the gym!"

Twilight nodded. Her stomach made another twist. "Right," she said. "On my way!"

**CHAPTER TEN**

Homecoming

**7:00 PM. The Gym.**

The first thing Twilight noticed was the glitter. The multicolored lights shone off of it, making the dance floor illuminate the gym. Girls were laughing by the food table; Twilight noticed that most of the food was apple-oriented, from the cupcakes to the trays. Guys and girls were bobbing their heads and jumping up and down to the dubstep that was being pumped from the speakers. The DJ booth was being run by a girl with purple sunglasses bobbing her spiky, electric blue bob back and forth. She gave Twilight and Pinkie a grin and a thumbs-up, and seemed to be having the time of her life as she worked the turn tables.

"Do you know her?" Twilight asked.

"Everyone knows her!" Pinkie chirped. "She's our school DJ, Vinyl Scratch! She doesn't talk very much during the day, but she's totally crazy at school dances!"

"I can see that," Twilight laughed, as Vinyl led the crowd in a series of fist pumps.

Apple Jack walked up to the duo. She was wearing a plaid dress, with cowboy boots and a denim jacket. She seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Pinkie Pie giggled. "I can't believe Rarity actually got you to wear a dress! It looks nice on you."

"Ah lost a bet," AJ muttered. "Come prom, Ah'm wearin' mah overalls."

Pinkie laughed. "Come on, Apple Jack; lighten up!"

The two strolled off arm-in-arm and Twilight was left to go about the dance by herself. She looked around: Rarity was flirting with a senior and looking like a movie star in her old-fashion white dress with purple elbow-length gloves, with Spike trailing behind her; Apple Jack and Pinkie had gone next to Rainbow Dash, who was in a cyan cocktail dress and rainbow sweatbands, dancing uncontrollably; Fluttershy was in a churchy-looking yellow dress off to the corner around the choir kids, next to Big Macintosh looking uncomfortable in a suit that seemed a size too small for him.

She decided just to wait around until Celestia got there.

Twilight leaned against the wall, defeated. She didn't want to dance, or talk, or anything. Celestia said she'd be at the gym at 7, but it was already 9.

"Maybe she's running late," Twilight reasoned. "It's not like her to be late, especially _two hours _late. Maybe she got in a car crash? Oh, God, that'd be horrible—I should text her or something, I'm such an awful friend…."

The music stopped all of the sudden. A girl with thick glasses and a business-looking suit came to the top of the wide pedestal, where the DJ booth was, and held up a microphone.

"Who is that?" Twilight asked Pinkie.

"That's Mare, the school president," Pinkie explained. "She's really bookish; more bookish than even you!"

Before Twilight could respond, Mare spoke.

"Hello, everyone!" she said. "Before I continue with the announcements, let's give a round of applause to DJ-PON-3, otherwise known as Vinyl Scratch, for the crazy-awesome music!"

Everyone cheered and clapped. Vinyl waved and grinned, and then hopped down from the pedestal. The studious girl cleared her throat into the mike, and everyone was quiet.

"Now, it's time to announce the Summer Sun Homecoming Queen!" Mare cheered. "But before I do, I'd like to thank a very special person whose family was able to fund all of the decorations for not only the Homecoming, but also our prom! Her father couldn't be here, but I'm sure you all know and love this girl very well…."

Twilight heard a humming noise from behind the DJ booth. Her stomach started churning again.

"…She's elegant, intelligent, and is actively involved in not just her school, but the whole Equestria school district…."

The humming noise grew. Twilight looked around at all the smiling students, panicking.

Fluttershy readied the student choir.

Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash high-fived.

Spike grinned in earnest.

Was Twilight the only one was hearing the noise?

"Please join me in welcoming, _Celestia Equestria!_"

The choir sang a few harmonious notes of welcome, and the student body erupted in applause as Rarity and a brown-haired boy opened the double doors of the gym to reveal….

The crowd was silenced, and then gossip and chattering erupted like lightening. Behind the door was an empty hallway.

"Oh God," Twilight muttered. "Oh my God, oh no…."

"K-Keep it together everyone!" Mare stuttered. "She might just be running late…."

"Running late?" Rarity cried. "The hallway's completely empty!"

A huge, shrill scream was heard from Pinkie Pie, nearly deafening Twilight, as the whole gym wall behind the DJ booth exploded to reveal a large, black Hummer. Pieces of metallic wall flew everywhere. Lyra grabbed Bon Bon's arm and protected her from a piece of flying metal, nearly breaking her arm in the process. Big Mac protected a crying Fluttershy in his arms and ran away from the projectiles, rushing the choir students behind him.A piece of wall hit Spike's head, and knocked him out cold; Twilight caught him just in time. Some ducked, others screamed, many cried.

When the crash was over, Twilight looked up to see the Hummer parked at an angle right behind the DJ booth. Bits of wall and shattered metal were everywhere. Some students were knocked out. Mare was thrown from the pedestal, lying on Derpy, who she had knocked down during the fall, and a girl in a hoodie was standing on top of the DJ booth, DJ-P0N-3's records crushed beneath her black combat boots. She wasaccompanied by a small gang of guys in black and purple hooded jackets. A grim smile cut the dark-looking girl's face in half.

"Oh God," Twilight squeaked.

"Oh God," Twilight squeaked.


	4. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Nightmare Moon

**9:20 PM. What's left of the gym.**

The girl took off her black hoodie and revealed the rest of her huge, Gothic dress adorned with spiderweb lace and violet-blue gems. Her midnight blue hair seemed to float from her black headpiece and off from her back. Her skin was paler than the moon; she appeared as if she were a ghost.

Without missing a beat, one of the guys in the Goth'sgang handed her Mare's microphone. "Well _hello _everyone! It's been so long since I've seen you…you _preps_ and you _football players_ and all the lot that banished me. I suppose you were expecting my sister."

She slowlyturned her head to a small group of freshmen who were cowering behind Apple Jack. The witch-girl's dark blue lips peeled back into another remorseless smile.

"Where's Celestia?" screamed Rainbow Dash, starting to run towards the booth. Apple Jack grabbed her by the back of her dress, holding Dash back from the thugs who were keeping their eyes on her. "What'd you do to her? Where is she?" Dash yelled in anger, thrashing about to try to get out of Apple Jack's firm grip.

The Goth laughed. "What, dyke? Am I not pretty enough for you? You just _have_ to see that Little Miss Sunshine. Daddy's favorite. Don't you remember _me_?"

Dash huffed, ready to spit out another retort. No stranger called her a dyke and got away with it.

"Oh, oh!" Pinkie squeaked. "I remember you! My cheer team called you….uh, the sixth Black Veil Bridle? Lady Goth Goth? OH! I REMEMBER! HOT TOPIC REJE—"

Jackie kicked Pinkie's shin, shutting her up before the Goth's frown scrunched up even tighter in disgust.

"YOU, you little stuck up cheer captain! Pinkamina Diane Pie. I hated you most of all." She leaped from the DJ booth and onto the pedestal, so that she could get closer to her audience."WHAT? AM I NOT A PERSON TOO?" she screamed into the microphone, making everyone flinch under her wrath. She stared daggers into Fluttershy, who clung onto Big Mac tighter and turned away from the witch's demon eyes. "How about you, Flutter_cry_? Do I not deserve just as much respect as Celestia? Am I not deserving of a special place on the popularity throne, with everyone across Equestriopolis knowing my name? I'm the mayor's daughter, too!" Fluttershy replied with muffled sobs.

The demon queen snapped her face to Rarity. "And _you_, you gaudy wannabe. I suppose you don't remember me, either! Who was I? A shadow of my sister. Someone not worth mentioning.I'll show you, though! I'll show you the power of—"

"Nightmare Moon."

Nightmare turned to Twilight, standing in the middle of the crowd holding up Spike as best as she could, staring Celestia's sister in the eyes.

"I know about you!" Twilight cried."You call yourself Nightmare Moon. You were expelled. Celestia warned me about you."

Nightmare grinned. "Then you know why I'm here."

Twilight bit her lip. All eyes were on her in question. "You're…you're here to…."

Nightmare laughed. "Ponyville Highschoolers, you all won't need Celestia anymore. No, no—you'll have ME instead. From this moment forth, if you _ever_ want to see your precious princess again, you'll have to do as the Nightmare army commands. From this moment forth, the night will last _forever!_"

The giant "Summer Sun Homecoming" banner was removed to reveal the spray-painted mural. The image hit everyone at once: the two horses, the black and blue one on top of the white in glorious victory, the bloody title "Celestia's Doom", the fear it struck in every student's heart. All was ominously still, save Fluttershy's muffled sobbing and Nightmare Moon's chuckles.

And then:

"GET HER!" Mare screamed. "SHE KNOWSWHERE CELESTIA IS!"

The Ponyville High football team left their dates to charge at the Nightmare gang members. What seemed like a hundred more black- and purple-hooded gang members entered from the rear entrances, and in an instant, pandemonium was released. Guys were getting their faces punched in and their stomachs knocked. Girls were screaming, running and crying. Tables were being turned over, and glitter was flying all over the place. Someone used a shard of one of DJ-P0N-'s broken record as a shank. And from the looks of the commotion, Nightmare's gang was winning heavily. Smiling in satisfaction, Nightmare Moon laughed maniacally and climbed into the front seat of her Hummer.

"What in tarnation!" Apple Jack cried, meeting up with Macintosh and Fluttershy. "We gotta get outta here! Do you have Apple Bloom?"

"Eeyup," Mac replied, grabbing his sister in one hand and Fluttershy with the other arm. Fluttershy was sobbing uncontrollably into Macintosh's chest. Apple Jack looked around. "Let's round everyone up. Aw, crap. Where's Dash?"

Macintosh looked towards the booth. Amongst all the confusionand chaos surrounding the DJ booth, a bright red flame darted towards the huge black car like a bullet, dodging groups of gang members and football players fighting. Nightmare Moon's chauffer slammed the gas petal and took a took a running start and leaped onto the back of the Hummer just as it was peeling off, hanging on by the top.

"DASH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YA DOIN'?"

"COME BACK HERE!" Dash cried. She made a fist and hit the back window of the Hummer as it drove away from the gym. "WHERE'S CELESTIA?"

The driver saw Dash in the rearview mirror and swerved, knocking her to the curb nearby and sending her tumbling into the bushes. Dash rose immediately, panting. She gritted her teeth and clinched her shoulder; the fall hurt her arm. "YOU EMO ASSHOLES!" she screamed. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!" She sprinted after the Hummer, but it was too late; within seconds they were out of sight. She panted, and clutched her bruised arm.

"Oh God," Dash moaned. She wasn't cursing the pain from her arm; she was cursing the school's fate. "The Nightmare gang? Celestia?"

A car zoomed closer to her. Dash turned around; it was Twilight, who had an unconscious Spike buckled in the front seat. "HEY!" Dash screamed. She waved her arms. "Come pick me up! Come—"

Twilight zoomed past her, nearly knocking her back to the bushes. Dash's teeth were grinding. "THAT BITCH. She knows something…."

She saw someone's car brights slowly coming closer to her, a series of honks beeping in her ear. It was Pinkie Pie's pink punchbug. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Apple Jack were in the passenger seats.

"Get in," Pinkie ordered.

**Author Note:** Wow, I can't believe you made it this far :P.

I'm happy to finally finish the entire Episode 1. Thank you all for putting me on your alert/favorite story/etc. thing. Me gusta all of you x3

A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS:

There will be a sequel, and it WILL be about Discord (season 2 episodes 1-2). I already wrote the Pinkie Pie Change scene (I couldn't resist). For all you Pinkiecord fans out there, I'm sure you'll like it. There'll be a bit of shipping in that chapter :)

Maybe, MAYBE I'll post the pinkie chapter of the sequel if I get enough messages. You know, like a sneak-peak.

I'm considering doing the Trixie or Gilda episode before I write the actual sequel.

I'll ALSO be posting the chapters one at a time from now on :D. YAY FOR MORE FREQUENT UPDATES AND LESS CONFUSION!

Umm, you guys are awesome? Yeah, 20% isn't enough; you guys are 100% cool. :)


	5. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Elements

**10:00 PM. Twilight's house.**

"Neh…Twilight….What….Happened?"

Spike fortunately didn't have anything seriously wrong with his head, but there _was_ a huge bruise that lay on the side of his forehead, and it was starting to swell. He was struck with fatigue, and his head could use a bit of rest.

"Go to sleep, Spike," Twilight said, tucking him in. "You hit your head. You're only a freshman, after all."

Spike was too tired to object, and was snoring before Twilight even had left the room. She changed into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and ran to her computer to look at Skype IM's from a week ago: she and Celestia had been talking about Luna and where Celestia had thought she might've ran off to. If anyone would know where Nightmare Moon and her gang escaped to, it'd be Celestia.

**TwilightSparkle**: you mean you can't find Luna anywhere? :(

**SunnyCelestia**: No. my dad's sent a search party; she's been missing for a week x'(

**SunnyCelestia**: I just hope she's safe. poor luna. her mind isn't very stable….

**TwilightSparkle**: i hope you find her. where do you think she'd be?

**SunnyCelestia**: well there was this old forest we used to hang out by when we were kids….idk. it's pretty big. i doubt there'd be any chance of us finding her there :/

_The old forest?_ Twilight thought. _If only she'd given me the name; I have no idea where that forest could be…._

A loud _BANG_ was heard coming from Twilight's living room. The student ran down the stairs to see Rainbow Dash, her dyed hair covered with twigs, her dress torn, her face red with impatience. "YOU!" she yelled. "You knew about Nightmare Moon all along! Why the hell didn't you tell us? I bet you're one of the Nightmare gang members—yeah, that's it! You were a spy! This whole thing wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come along!"

The others piled in through Twilight's unlocked front door. Apple Jack grabbed Dash before the jock could lay a fist in Twilight's face.

"Simmer down, Sugarcube," Jackie snapped. "She ain't the one who caused Nightmare Moon to come crashin the Homecomin'. Who could prevent that?" The tired-looking cowgirl turned to Twilight. "Ya…_did_ know _somethin'_ about this, though; didn't ya?"

Twilight bit her lip, and sighed. "This way, guys," Twilight said.

Everyone sat on the chair, floor, or bed around Twilight's bedroom as she explained herself. "Celestia has been my childhood friend since forever. I've known about Luna—she calls herself Nightmare Moon now, apparently—and I knew about her mysterious disappearance ever since that month after she got expelled from PH. I kind of had the feeling, and maybe the slightest prediction that Luna would snap, but Celestia would never want to talk about her. The whole family kind of swept her under the rug. I mean, who could blame them? No one really wants having the press poking around about their mentally unstable daughter."

Twilight sighed. "I don't know how to stop Nightmare Moon, I don't know where to find her…. I don't even know what she wants with Celestia."

Pinkie looked at the glowing computer screen behind Twilight. "What's that?"

"Some Skype chats me and Celestia have had," Twilight said. "She told me something about a forest, but I don't know…."

Pinkie hopped to the computer, and went to work. Within ten seconds, she pulled up a number of maps near Equestriopolis—which narrowed to three.

Twilight frowned. "How'd you—"

"Google Maps," Pinkie giggled. "Come on, Twi; books aren't the only things that can solve problems!"

Twilight pushed the cheerleader out of the way and double-clicked the forest closest to Celestia's house. Since Lest told Twilight that they visited it when they were little kids, it must've been in walking distance. She found a webpage on the forest; it was called the Everfree Forest, and was home to the ruins of a castle. It even had a legend to go along with it. Everyone gathered around the computer screen as Twilight read the fairy tale aloud.

"Once there were six mythical ponies—two unicorns, two pegasi, and two earth ponies—that held the powers of the Elements of Harmony. These elements were combined to create a power so great that it would defeat an evil alicorn, known as Nightmare Moon."

There was a brief moment of silence as everyone let it sink in. Pinkie interrupted, "What's an alicorn?"

"A unicorn with pegasus wings," Twilight said. "It's a mythical creature. Apparently only two existed in the world, once upon a time."

"So…. Nightmare Moon thinks she's a uni-pega-whatever?" Dash asked.

Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to read the annotations that followed after the legend. "The Elements have been researched inside the ruins, since scientists cannot remove the elements from their original places due to some unknown force. Researchers have found and translated five Elements of Harmony: Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Loyalty, but they haven't been able to translate what the sixth one was. The Elements are located in the ruins of the Castle of the Ancient Pony Sisters in the Everfree Forest."

Twilight looked from the computer screen to the five girls before her, with a scared look.

"Do you think she's really in there?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, Everfree is a scary place…."

"She's gotta be in there," Apple Jack said. "Ah mean, Ah dunno if the authorities are gonna be lookin' in some woods for her. It's the perfect place for a gang to hide."


	6. Chapter 13

**Author's Note**: I sent this story to Equestria Daily, but they told me I'd have to take out all my author's notes-which I did, but they wanted to change other things to my story that I didn't necessarily feel like changing. So screw it, if I want to try sending it in again, I'll put a revised version on Google Docs. You guys deserve my thank you notes. :D

Also, I'm trying to make my chapters longer. It's really hard because I don't want to bore y'all to death with details, but my chapters _do_ seem a bit short….

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Honesty

**10:45 PM. The opening of the Everfree Forest.**

All she could think about was how she should be in bed right now, and how long she would be grounded after all this happened. But there wasn't much time to waste on thinking about herself. She knew that Luna was going to get herself in trouble, and may even get people hurt, and she wanted to stop her before it was too late. Twilight drove her mom's Suburban up to the shady-looking trail. It had a worn-out, ridged wooden sign saying "Everfree Forest" and a rusty warning under it declaring that it was protected by Equestriopolis's police force and security for research and wildlife preservation. Twilight parked the car on the gravel road, and got out her flashlight. Everyone piled out of the huge car after her. It was freezing outside, almost as if Nightmare Moon's coldness had leaked into the September weather.

Twilight shone the huge flashlight on the trail before them—or what was left of the trail. Twilight had read on the website that the forest had not been visited since the 1960's, when the mythical pony tale was more popular, and since then, Equestriopolis's government had neglected the site. But the girls could see from two thick tire tracks that the Hummer been through the woods, leaving a clear trail for them to follow.

"Oh my God," Twilight muttered.

"Let's do this!" Pinkie cheered, buttoning up her cheerleader jacket. The girls had all changed before heading out; they stopped by Pinkie's house on the way to grab more supplies and outdoorsy clothes.

"That's the thing," Twilight muttered. She bit her lip. "Guys, I appreciate you coming, but…. I'd really rather do this on my own. I know Luna more than anybody; I think I'm the only one who can really talk to her…."

"Twilight, did ya _see_ who she had with her?" Apple Jack said. "Those thugs were carrying firearms. Weapons! We are NOT letting ya go into some creepy woods alone."

Apple Jack started walking towards the entrance. Before Twilight could object, Rarity added, "You could get hurt, Twilight. We absolutely _refuse_ to leave you be; we're going with you."

"But, but—"

Everyone started going into the woods without her. Even Fluttershy was going in without a second glance. Twilight stayed put. They were underestimating the severity of what was going on. They were endangering their lives. What if one of them got shot? What if someone got _killed_?

"Come on, Twi!" Pinkie giggled, starting towards the forest. "If we make it out of here alive, I'll get my mom to make you a baker's dozen of cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner!"

"Don't freaking joke about that," Twilight muttered, and finally dragged herself inside the thickets.

A quarter of an hour went by with no conversation. Twilight barely knew where they were going; the map on the website said for them to head north on the trail, but she wasn't too sure. Rainbow Dash was leading the way with the flashlight; it was the size of a cement block and just as heavy, so they decided to switch out with it every so often. The moonlight provided some light, but Twilight wanted to bring the heavy-weight illumination just to be safe.

"Have any of you even been here before?" Twilight asked.

"Of course not, darling; they closed off the trail before we were born," Rarity laughed. "Besides, who would want to go visit an icky place like this? I'm surprised Celestia even set foot in this place as a child!"

"Ah've heard stories about this place from Granny Smith," Apple Jack said. "When Ah was little, Ah thought this place didn't exist, but…."

"What were the stories about?" Fluttershy asked cautiously.

"Well apparently it don't work like the rest of the world. Folks say it ain't natural and that the place runs off black magic."

"Black magic?" Fluttershy murmured.

Rainbow Dash snickered. "You wanna know what I'VE heard, Fluttershy?" she asked.

"Rainbow, stop it…." Apple Jack warned.

"I'VE heard that anyone who's ever set foot in these woods after they closed it off…has never…come…OUT!"

On the word "out", Rainbow turned around, holding the flashlight against her face to make herself look like a ghost. Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie jumped and screamed as Rainbow Dash laughed her head off.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Twilight yelled. "Stop being so loud; if any of those mobsters catch us we'll be goners for sure!"

A scream was heard. It was Pinkie Pie falling off into darkness, away from the light.

"PINKIE!" Rarity screamed, chasing after her, only to disappear with her and leave behind a painful scream. Apple Jack and Twilight chased after her before Rainbow Dash could shine the light on the cliff that had taken them.

"SHIT," Dash screamed. Fluttershy stayed behind her, whimpering. Dash grabbed her by the sleeve of her turtleneck. "Come on! We gotta get them!"

The moonlight shone the way; they were toppling down the side of the cliff, on their way to the bottom. Rainbow controllably slid down with them, and grabbed Pinkie Pie's wrist just in time. Fluttershy followed suit and caught Rarity's leg before she gained anymore speed. Apple Jack and Twilight, however, were left to tumble down in a chaotic mess of limbs.

Finally, Apple Jack grabbed onto a root growing out of the steep ground, and hung sturdily from there. Twilight slowed to a stop, out of breath, but just at the edge of what looked like a ravine. She grabbed onto the grass, but it wasn't enough and she was losing her hold. Her breath was fluttering away as she panicked.

Apple Jack remained as calm as she could. "Hold on, Twi!" she called. She hoisted her leg up, held onto the root with her foot so she could grab Twilight's hand.

Twilight could barely speak. "Apple Jack, what the hell do I do?" she cried. "I'm gonna fall!"

"No ya won't."

She looked past Twilight into the abyss. She couldn't seen anything below her. The ravine could have been six feet or sixty. She took a deep breath. "Let go."

Twilight's eyes bulged out of her skull. "WHAT?"

"LET GO."

"Do they grow apples at your farm, or weed? There's no chance in Hell I'm letting go!"

"Ah promise you'll be safe, Twi!"  
>"You can't keep that promise!"<p>

"Ah'm tellin' you the truth! Twilight, Ah haven't known ya for too long, but you can count on me. Ah'm tellin you the truth. You'll be safe."

Twilight looked into Apple Jack's face. She had a certain look of confidence; assurance. Twilight sobbed faintly to herself, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let go, screaming.

Not even half a second later, she was in the arms of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The "ravine" was probably only seven or eight feet deep. Twilight couldn't believe her luck, and her breathing began to slow down.

"Thank God," she muttered. They put her down so that Apple Jack could fall next.

It was funny; Twilight had only known Jackie for a day, and she seemed to be the most trustworthy person she knew besides Celestia and Spike. After only a day, she was risking her life with five strangers, but they seemed to be the girls that she would be most comfortable risking her life with.


	7. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Kindness

**11:15 PM. Everfree Forest.**

"Did you _see_ the way me and Fluttershy saved your asses?" Dash was bragging as they walked further into the forest. "It was all my idea. Sliding down feet-first is easy; if you guys kept rolling around, you'd be gonners for sure!"

"Yeah, Rainbow," Twilight muttered. "I was there."

The six friends wandered deeper and deeper into the Everfree forest, and it was starting to get a little spooky. Fluttershy was suffering the most from this; while the others walked along cautiously, she couldn't help but try and dodge ever y single stick and puddle that came in her way."I think we're off the trail," Fluttershy muttered.

"We can't be too far away from Nightmare Moon though!" Pinkie said. She pointed to a large shadow up ahead. "Look!"

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. A guy twice their height and three times their width was standing in their way, looking extremely angry. He was wearing the black-and-purple hoodie: definitely one of the Nightmare gang members.

The group of six quietly started to back away slowly so that they could form their path around the gangster, but it was too late; Pinkie's loud voice had already grabbed his attention. He snarled, and started towards them.

Twilight observed that he was unarmed; his hands were free and there wasn't a knife or gun in his belt. "We've got this, guys!" Twilight cried. "Go!"

Fluttershy protested, but before she could do anything, Rarity lunged at him, and punched his stomach. She recoiled, and waved her hand as he barely flinched. She had it in her mind that he wouldn't hit a lady, but she was sorrowfully mistaken when he swiped at her face, missing by just an inch. Apple Jack covered for her, circling him and launching one of her muscular legs between both of his. The guy howled in pain, and swung his arm around, hitting Jackie to the ground.

"Wait!" Fluttershy cried.

"Fluttershy's right; I'll kick his ass!" Dash yelled, and swooped in to jump and shoved a fist in his nose. The punk leaped away from Dash, shouting a string of swears. He finally grabbed Dash by the hood of her jacket and hoisted her to the ground alongside Apple Jack. Twilight and Pinkie were about to charge at him, but right before the two sides collided, a blonde and pink blur divided them.

"_WAAAAIIIIT_!"

Everyone was taken aback by the sudden outburst as they saw their shy friend holding everyone back. "JUST STOP IT, OKAY?" Fluttershy screamed shrilly, holding her arms out. "This isn't gonna work if we're all fighting! I'm sick of this! JUST _STOP_!"

Twilight hadn't known that Fluttershy could even speak above a whisper. Fluttershy gave her friends an assuring look, took a deep breath, and turned around to face the thug. The gangster had put a knee to the ground, holding his bleeding nose. He looked at Fluttershy with a heartless rage.

"Bitch, don't you come near me!" he yelled, holding up his arm threateningly. He pointed at Rainbow Dash, still on the ground from when he threw her; Apple Jack was helping her up. "You don't wanna end up like your gay friends over there!"

Twilight turned away; she didn't want to see Fluttershy get herself killed. But after five seconds of silence, she looked up to see that the punk had seen Fluttershy's comforting, genuine smile, and didn't strike. He was out of breath from fighting.

"Let me see your nose," Fluttershy said softly.

"Are you shitting me?" he snapped, keeping his hand to his nose.

"You're hurt. If your nose is left untreated, it could be permanently fractured."

The guy was confused, but his wound hurt too much. He knelt down and took his hand away to show his palm covered in blood. Dash had made a gash on the bridge of the guy's big nose, and he was bleeding from the purpling wound. Twilight was surprised that Fluttershy hadn't fainted from the sight. Instead she gasped. "Oh, oh gosh; hold on, I have some tissues…." The worried teenager dug into her purse for the mini first-aid kit she carried around. "This may hurt a bit," she murmured softly. The other five watched worriedly as Fluttershy spread antibiotics over the gash.

"_Shit_!" he hissed, waving his arm around.

"I told you it would hurt," she replied calmly, dabbing the wound with the tissue. "Gosh, I'm so sorry this happened…."

While Fluttershy was applying the cotton and a band-aid, the others maneuvered around as quietly and discreetly as they could. They could hear the guy giving Fluttershy an apology. Twilight could hardly believe it, but she wasn't about to object that they start fighting again.

In moments the guy was laughing. "I won' tell her I saw y'all. Juss don' let that bitch git you _too_ hard."

"We'll try not to!" Fluttershy laughed. Normally she'd be insulted by all this constant swearing, but she felt sorry for the poor guy for getting hurt. She gave him a hug, and followed the others, waving good-bye sweetly.

"Fluttershy, how did you-?" Twilight asked, flabbergasted.

"His name's Manti," she explained nonchalantly. "He's really sweet once you break through the rough exterior. Nightmare Moon threatened she would injure his little brother if he didn't join the gang. That poor guy…."

"I don't get you, Shy," Dash said. "You're the only girl I know who would make peace with some crazed stranger."  
>She laughed. "Well, it's nothing, really. If you show a little kindness, you can make peace with anybody!"<p>

Twilight couldn't help but smile. She'd never guess that the best weapon wasn't a weapon at all.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm sorry about the swearing :( I'm really trying to keep it to a minimum, but a real-life gang would probably use a bunch of swearing.  
>Also, I apologize about not updating that much. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)<p> 


	8. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Laughter

**11:45 PM. In the middle of Everfree Forest.**

After encountering one of Nightmare Moon's gang members, the girls were starting to feel a bit uneasy, but Twilight was almost pleased.

"I'm just glad we found one of the gang members," Twilight explained. "It confirms that Nightmare should be somewhere around here. And if all of Nightmare's followers are as easily manipulated as Manty was, going through her defenses could be easier than we thought."

"Well, I don't really like it when you say 'manipulate'," Fluttershy muttered. "I was just comforting that poor guy…."

"What time do you think it is?" Rarity asked.

"Ah dunno." Apple Jack looked up, but the moon was shrouded behind the overgrown tree branches. "Ah think it's gettin' late, though. Ah hope our folks still think we're at that dance."

As the girls were getting deeper into the forest, the plants were starting to become more untamed. The moon was blocked completely by the overgrown tree branches; if it weren't for Twilight's flashlight, they would've been blind. The grass almost reached Rarity's knees, and she had to keep bending down so that she could scratch them every once in a while.

"Come ON, Rarity!" Rainbow Dash screamed. "We should've been at the temple or whatever, like, ten minutes ago!

Rarity hated the outdoors. She had mistakenly brought her Coach sneakers on the mission; they were the least-nicest pair of shoes she owned. "I'm sorry if I can't be as outdoorsy as you, Rainbow Dash!" she cried, scratching her shin so hard Twilight thought her skin would tear. "I HATE the forest! Everyone here knows I hate the forest! We talk all the time about how much of a lady I am!"

"Ya know, Rarity, Ah haven't really talked to ya much since this whole Nightmare Moon business," Apple Jack said.

Thoughts stirred around in her head, and soon she was starting to think aloud: "Ah haven't really talked to any of y'all. Ah may've said hi to y'all in the hallway, but that's about all Ah've done. Most'a the time Ah just keep to mahself."

"Well don't feel like it's just you, AJ; I don't have time to talk either," Rainbow said. "I'm too busy with track and stuff."

"And I'm always busy at my parents' animal shelter and choir," Fluttershy stuttered.

Twilight was glad she wasn't the only one who was so busy. It seemed that these girls had so much work on their hands that they couldn't have time to strengthen their friendships—which was a shame, she was starting to see, because under all of their annoying flaws and extreme differences, these girls seemed to be wise, kind, and fun to be around.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Pinkie cheered, "I think we should have a slumber party after this whole thing blows over!"

"Pinkie, are you crazy?" Twilight snapped. "Junior year is the busiest year! We have colleges to apply to, SAT's to study for…."

"You can study anytime, Twilight!" Pinkie said. "You have plenty of time to stuff your brain. But you only get to live high school _once_!"

At Pinkie's last word, the battery in the flashlight snapped off.

Everything was dead black, dead silent, and dead still. And then the sound of Twilight clicking the flashlight button over and over again was heard. "Come on, come _on_!" she cried. When the flashlight gave no response, she tried hitting her fist against it. No response. "CRAP, no! Not now!" she cried. "Come on you stupid piece of crap, WORK! We'll never find the ruins!"

"Darling, let me see that; I'll fix it—"

"She told ya, Rarity, it's broke!"

"Shit, Apple Jack, that was my foot!"

"Please don't yell…."

Panic erupted like wildfire. Soon everyone was talking over each other, their voices growing louder and louder.

"Don't you have spare batteries, dear?"

"I can't find the spare batteries! I think someone stole my backpack!"

"Hurry up, Twilight; I can't see shit in here!"

"I wanna go home!"

"Stop crying, Flutter-whine!"

"Ah think ah stepped in somethin'…"

"AHHHHHH!"

"JESUS, WHAT WAS THAT?"

"WHAT WAS WHAT?"

"WE'RE GONNA DIE OUT HERE!"

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter flooded over all of the panicking and screaming. The five girls turned to Pinkie Pie, who had an iPhone on the Flashlight app. She held it to Twilight's backpack, lying on the overgrown grass, and then pointed the light up to her face, illuminating her round cheeks, rosy from laughing.

"Pinkie, what the hell?" Twilight cried. "You had your iPhone on you the whole time?"

"Why didn't you do that before?" Rainbow Dash screamed. "While we were all panicking and screaming, why didn't you pull it out sooner?"

Pinkie laughed. "Chill out, guys; sometimes it's just fun to be scared!"

Rainbow crossed over to Pinkie and grabbed her by the collar of her t-shirt. "YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY, CHEERLEADER? YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST IN THE DARK WHILE A BUNCH OF ARMED GANG MEMBERS ARE IN THE FOREST SEARCHING FOR YOU?"

Pinkie laughed again.

Rainbow held up her fist.

Pinkie erupted with laughter.

"I'm not afraid of you, Rainbow Dash!" she laughed. She gave Twilight her phone so that she could look for her extra batteries. Dash let go of her, confused and angry. "I'm not afraid of anything! I learned a long time ago that it's more fun to laugh at what you're scared of."

Another light clicked on, illuminating Twilight's face. The bookworm sighed with relief.

"What do you mean, you learned a long time ago?" Dash asked as the group moved forward.

"I used to live far away on a farm. We had a lot of land, but nothing grew on it because it was so hot and the land wasn't very fertile. So when I was a little girl and the sun was going down, my parents would fight about me and my two sisters starving because we couldn't raise enough money to buy food. Sometimes I could hear glass break, and I'd start to imagine them fighting physically. I'd hide under my pillow from what I thought I'd saw, but my Grandma would come into my room and say to me that that wasn't how you deal with things at all.

"I still remember that day. 'Pinkie,' she said, 'you have to stand up tall and learn to face your fears. You'll see that they can't hurt you; just laugh and make them disappear!' So from then on, I would always look on the bright side of every situation. I played in the fields with my little sisters when my parents started arguing. I'd show them how much their big sister could smile, even if we were half-starved and could only look at gray for miles. And when nighttime came, I told them ghost stories about monsters and ghouls, and taught them to giggle at the ghosties, crack up at the creepy, and tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone—and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just make you wanna—"

There was a tiny giggle, and then a snort. Pinkie soon interrupted in uncontrollable, tear-wrenching laughter, the most contagious of all. Pretty soon Rainbow Dash was laughing at how ridiculous she looked, laughing at her own childhood experience. "Pinkie Pie, you're so crazy!" she cried between laughs. Apple Jack started to laugh, then Fluttershy, and pretty soon the whole group had to stop walking though the forest so that they could all laugh for a few minutes. They didn't care if Nightmare Moon's gang was right around the corner; it didn't matter. They'd laugh in their faces, and confuse them as much as Pinkie had confused Rainbow Dash with her laughter. After they all calmed down, Twilight felt her face; it was sore from smiling, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time.

Hey guys… I'm sorry it took so long to post this…. But wouldn't you rather have a chapter that's good and takes time than a chapter that's on time and horrible? Exactly.

I'm gonna try to finish the Rarity chapter tonight, but no promises…. I'm sorry


	9. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Generosity

**12:00 AM. A quarter of a mile away from the ruins.**

The girls ran along, laughing and joking, and even singing at one point. Eventually they made it past the pitch-darkness; the trees were becoming less wild as they moved deeper into the forest, and the full moon had begun to light their way. All was going well until they had heard a cry that seemed to pierce the air.

The girls stopped in their tracks. It sounded like someone had been shot, or worse.

"Come on, guys, let's go!" Rainbow Dash said. "We gotta make it through; we're almost there!"

The other five girls looked at each other, indecisive. As the six loitered, the cry became louder and more painful to hear. Finally, Rarity bolted towards the direction of the cry.

"RARITY!" Twilight screamed, running after her. She didn't have a flashlight, or a phone; she was bolting into near-blackness. The other four ran after Rarity, right behind Twilight. "RARITY! IT COULD BE A TRAP!"

Rarity seemed to be indifferent to what Twilight was saying. She ran and ran, splashing her Coach tennis shoes into mud. When the others caught up to her, she was confronting a tall, lanky guy with the trademarked Nightmare gang purple hoodie, sprawled on the ground, screaming and crying.

"Oh, Christ," Twilight muttered.

"This is _horrible_!" the young man was screaming. There was a high-pitched ring to his voice that made him less frightening than the other gang member they had encountered. "I HATE that stupid bitch!"

"Darling, _please_!" Rarity moaned. She knelt down and tried to help him up. "Just tell me what's going on! What happened?"

The other five huddled behind Rarity to look at the broken gang member. He sat up in front of Rarity, covering his head with his hands.

"I had been in the Nightmare Gang since this morning," he cried. "They had threatened to shave my head if I didn't join. And just when I was out here patrolling…." He removed his arms from the top of his head, revealing half a shaved head. The other half was fixed into a sort of orange bob. "…that evil bitch shaved me anyway! And when I begged her to shave the other half, she wouldn't! And she told me that if I decided to run away, she would dye it green in my sleep!"

Rainbow Dash pushed Rarity aside, and smacked the faux-gangster in the face. "YOU PANSY," she yelled. "IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?"

"Rainbow!" Rarity cried, trying to hold her back.

"NO, Rarity!" Dash yelled. She turned back to the shaved young man. "We thought you were knifed, or _shot_! And you're complaining about your freaking hair? Jesus Christ, man; grow some balls!"

"That's _enough_, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity yelled. "I never knew how insensitive you could be! Fashion and style means as much to me and him as track means to you!"

"Yeah, but…."

"What if Nightmare Moon had taken your precious Nikes, your signature sweatband, and shredded them in front of your face?"

The other four girls turned to the jock. Dash's face twitched a little at the image. She finally bit her lip, and stepped back. Rarity smiled, and then looked back at the young man.

"My goodness!" she said. "That _is_ a beautiful color for your hair! I bet it looks lovely in the light…. But with half of it gone, it isn't much more than a bad haircut!"

"I know," he whined. "I'm hideous! I'm in the Ponyville High fall production, and it's in a month! I'm playing Claudio from _Much Ado About Nothing, _and Claudio is supposed to have _wavy_ hair! How am I going to grow it all back in time? My director's going to kill me!"

"You have a play to put on?" Rarity cried. Rarity made her decision. She had designed countless costumes for the Ponyville High drama department ever since she was a freshman, from 16th-century gowns to 40s hats and suits. She couldn't let the drama department down this year. She bit her lip, and then grabbed the switchblade out of the young man's belt.

"Hey, what are you—"

"Rarity! What the—OH MY GOD."

"HOLY CRAP!"

Within ten seconds, half of Rarity's beautiful, curled, ink-black hair was gone in her fist. She tied it all with a rubber band, and then gave it to the boy.

"Tell your director to have one of his wig-making friends make this into a wig," she explained. "I've seen the director's friends; he has one that makes state-of-the-art wigs in a matter of two weeks. If you explain the whole thing, I'm sure he'll understand."

The two stood up, and the boy was so overwhelmed that he burst into tears and hugged Rarity. "MY HAIR!" he cried. "I've always wanted to try black hair; it'll be perfect! I can't believe you'd do this!"

"You'll look _fabulous_!" Rarity squeed. "I can't wait to see PH's production. You'll look amazing in black hair!"

The other five couldn't believe it. Rarity cared so much about her looks; why would she risk it all on some stranger?

"Your hair…" Pinkie Pie muttered. "It's so…_short_!"

"Short hair is in this season, Pinkie," Rarity laughed, fluffing her shoulder-length bob. "Who knows? Perhaps I'll cut the rest of it off and try the Emma Watson look…. Okay, well, maybe not. Don't worry, Pinkie…. It'll grow back…."

"So will his hair," Dash muttered under her breath.

Rarity shrugged, and Twilight couldn't help but smile. It was a beautiful thing to see her friend give up the things she cared about most in order to help others. But when she looked back, she had realized that they had run off of the trail by a long way.

"Um, excuse me," Twilight said, "you wouldn't happen to know how far away we are from the ruins, do you?"

"Oh, of course!" he said. "Just go right behind me a few paces, and you're there. You'll have to be careful though; Nightmare Moon is lurking there."

"Thanks," Twilight said with a smile. "I think we can handle her though."


	10. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

Loyalty

**12:10AM. Just outside of the ruins.**

The heroic six struggled on; they were exhausted, having traveling through this dark and confusing forest for two hours, and they were agonizing over the thought of confronting Nightmare Moon. If the gang members had normal guns, their leader could have a machine gun, or a bazooka for all they knew. The girls—even Pinkie Pie—had their palms shaking, their eyes lowered, and their stomachs churning.

But they still kept striding forward, making an effort to finish strong and not get bogged down by some Gothic rebel surrounded by a few high school drop-outs. Twilight was leading the way, marching forward and ready for battle. The thespian they had just encountered had lent the girls his switchblade given to him by Nightmare Moon, in case anything was to go wrong. Twilight didn't intend on using it; she figured a discussion could easily sway Luna into renouncing her gang-boss title. She could be wrong, though.

After a few more moments of uncertainty and patience, they reached an opening, where the tree branches above them gave way to the incandescent moon casting a powerful glow on a gray, gargantuan stone structure immersed in a thin cloud of fog. It was, for the most part, a heap of stone bricks that was as large as Celestia's mansion, but some walls were still intact, and the ceiling had not given in completely. The wooden, double doors were still standing in a near-collapsing stone door frame.

All that was dividing them was a ten-foot-deep trench.

"Aw, crap," Apple Jack muttered. "We were so close!"

"There's no way we could get past this trench," Fluttershy dejectedly mumbled. "If one of us fell down there, we wouldn't be able to get out."

"How do we even know she's in those ruins, anyway?" Rarity asked. "She could be in the police station for all we know."

Twilight's spirit drained. After so much time spent on trying to catch Luna, going through obstacles and fighting together, the six were submerged in doubt. Rarity was right, anyway; the police would have had to catch her.

"Hold on, guys!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "I see something over there! Look!"

Past the ghostly fog, they could make out a shining black Hummer parked to the right of the building. A little faith was restored, and the six girls cheered. Nightmare Moon HAD to be in that building. They had been right all along.

"See?" Rainbow said. She stood at the head of the other five, and talked as if she were pep-talking her track team. "Now, look…. I didn't spend two hours trudging through crap, fighting a gang, and risk getting killed just so I can stop at some ditch and walk back home while that maniac Nightmare Moon is still running loose and in control of a bunch of armed high-school drop outs. I came here to make my school safe. I came here to make sure that my friends, especially you guys, don't have to be afraid of getting shot or knifed by the Nightmare gang." The hot-headed teen sharply spun her body around to the ten-foot-deep furrow. "I'm going in."

"Rainbow, what the—OH MY GOD!"

Before any of them could realize what was going on, Rainbow Dash grabbed the flash light out of Twilight's hand and leaped into the ditch, skidding along the dirt wall until she safely made it to the bottom. She shone the flashlight towards the ditch's opposite wall; it was bumpy with rocks jabbing out of the dirt. Dash stuck the flash light in her mouth and leaped onto the wall, grabbing the rocks for support. She climbed, digging her nails into the dirt and rocks, until she finally reached the top.

She could hear her friends calling her: "Rainbow!" "Oh my goodness, she made it!" "Aw yeah!" "Woo!"

Dash smiled triumphantly. If there was any obstacle in her way, she was sure to overcome it. But her celebration ended abruptly when she heard footsteps in the gravel behind her. She spun around. "Who's there?"

"Roxanne…."

The fog was thicker on the other side of the trench. Dash found it hard to see a few feet in front of her. She squinted into the fog, and stood up straight.

"I ain't scared of you!" she cried. "Show yourself!"

"We've been waiting for you, Rainbow. The best young runner in Ponyville High….or Equestriopolis, for that matter…."

Rainbow was confused. How did they know her name, and her nickname? Furthermore, how did they know she ran?

"Who?" Rainbow asked the fog. "Are you talking about me?"

"Of course we're talking about you."

Dash snickered. "Oh, right, of course." She decided to play with the voice a little. "Hey, um, do you mind telling some of the colleges I'm applying to about that? I'd really like a full ride in one of their track teams; I've been waiting for a reply from Fillydelphia University for, like, EVER…"

"We don't care about colleges. We want you to join _us_."

From the fog emerged three gang members, two tall and lean boys and one blue-haired girl. They were each sporting the Nightmare gang hoodie, but they were unzipped to reveal dark purple jerseys with a sky blue lettering. Rainbow Dash frowned.

"We're building up a track team of our own, you see," said the girl. "We figure that once Nightmare Moon takes over Ponyville High, we're going to change the jerseys and the track team name. We're going to be called the Shadowbolts. We'll go around Equestriopolis looking for toughest, fastest students who have the stats to join. But we need a captain."

The corner of Dash's mouth cracked into a grin and she could practically feel the sparkles in her eyes. She couldn't help it. This was her opportunity to become captain of the Ponyville High track team. Sure, they would be under a different team name, but what did it matter? How many _junior_ high school track stars could say that they were the track team captain? The honor always went to a senior. This was the chance of a lifetime. College athletic boards would probably take that into notice.

"We need the most magnificent, swiftest, bravest teen runner in Equestriopolis. We've done our research, Dash. No other track star has your capabilities, your potential - your speed. We need _you_."

It only took five seconds in Dash's brash thought process to come up with an answer. "Sign me up!" she said. Inside her head, she was reasoning with herself. Maybe Nightmare's gang wasn't all that bad. If one of their goals was to change the school's colors, for Christ's sake, their other goals would be equally as harmless.

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a distant voice.

"Rainbow! What's taking so long?" Twilight yelled. "Is it safe to cross?"

Rainbow looked back at her five friends, and yelled, "Yeah, guys, hold on; lemme just—"

One of the tall boys shoved her, causing her to stumble against the other, who pushed her towards the blue-haired girl.

"NO!" she screamed. "It's either them, or us. Those five are NOT suitable for our soon-to-be-perfect track team. If you're going to take this into consideration, Roxanne, you have to decide between us or them."

Rainbow Dash gulped. She could hear Twilight screaming her name from across the trench, shouting "Don't listen to them!" Dash looked at her rainbow sneakers, the colors tainted and muddy from the countless steps she had taken to reach this very place. Suddenly she remembered why she was there,and it wasn't to feed her own selfish goals.

"Well?"

"You…"

The dark track leader grinned, standing up straight and triumphantly, until Rainbow Dash finished her sentence:

"Thank you, for the offer I mean. But I'm afraid I have to say no."

Then, with a triumphant grin, Dash turned back to her friends. "IT'S OKAY TO CROSS!" Dash shouted. "Just slide against the wall and climb up the other side; I'll help you guys get up!"

A parade of cheers was heard from the other side. Dash turned back to the track gang, but they had disappeared. She frowned, but shrugged it off; wherever they were, she was glad that they were out of the way.

One by one, Dash helped the girls up; she grabbed their arms when they would climb high enough, and pull them up. The last to go was Twilight. When Apple Jack and Rainbow heaved her to the surface, Rainbow laughed. "See, guys? I'd never leave my friends hanging."

Twilight was almost caught off guard by the sincerity in Rainbow's tone. Before she had only seen Rainbow as angry, or eager, or smug. But at that moment, her words were spoken in such a manner that anyone would believe her.


	11. Chapter ?

**NOT A CHAPTER**

**12:18 AM. Inside the ruins.**

"_So, they're coming."_

"_Yeah. We tried to stop them."_

"_AND YOU FAILED."_

_The three athletes ducked as their dictator sent an empty can of spray paint flying in their direction. _

"_I TOLD YOU TO KEEP THEM AWAY. They could be here any moment."_

"_Well what do you want us to do?" shouted the blue-haired girl, seeming tiny compared to her tall, dark leader. "We did all that we could, besides gunning them down."_

"_You should've at least shot one of their knees. Something to keep them occupied while I finished preparing."_

_The three stooges were taken aback. They knew Nightmare Moon was dark, and even a little crazy, but her ruthlessness was almost getting out of hand._

_The Gothic young lady paced. The moonlight only shone on parts of her face, outlining her bony structure to a degree in which she almost looked skeletal. The ruins were silent except for the sound of her large, clunky boots pounding on the stone floor. After a moment of pondering, she commanded, "All three of you, leave. I'll deal with all six of them. Are they armed?"_

"_Not that we saw."_

"_Then stay outside the ruins until I call for you."_

_The girl nodded, and led her two accomplices out of the back exit._

_Nightmare Moon glared around the room. It was the only room in the ruins that remained fully intact, although the pillars that helped sustain the roof looked as if they were about to crumble. Patches of vines, branches, and other overgrowth accented the ruins, partially blanketing the large cracks and holes that centuries of age had created. A large, wall-length window held the backdrop for a stone throne on a pedestal in which Nightmare was lounging in._

_She bit her painted lip. She had never felt fear so vividly since she was expelled from Canterlot Academy and Celestia and her father had neglected her. She decided to deal with it the way she had done since that day; mask it with violence and anger._

Hey, guys, Cweecune here. I'm sorry that I broke my Pinkie Pie swear and had to make everyone wait another day. I'm moving, so I've spent 75% of my time carrying boxes, cleaning, and unpacking.

Me and my editor also decided that we needed another day to get the Rainbow Dash chapter perfect; Rainbow Dash's scene is one of the most important parts in the whole pilot, and we didn't want it to be rushed. Think about it; would you guys rather read a few pages of crap on time, or wait an extra 24 hours for something worth your reading time?

That's what I thought.

I promise to make my deadlines this time, and since it's spring break, I'll probably post more in the near future. Thanks for being patient; me and Commander Caffeine appreciate you, and thank you for taking the time to read our little creation

-Cweecune


	12. Celebration!

So, I was looking at my legacy story stats, and to my happy surprise, I find that I have not ten, not twenty, but FORTY-ONE USERS WHO HAVE ADDED THIS STORY ON THEIR ALERT LIST!

I decided that that number was almost fifty, and so as a reward to all of my lovely subscribers who have supported me, my editor, and this story, I've decided to make a two-part short story, starring Fluttershy and…drum roll please… THREE original characters!

But I'm not good with OC's, so I've decided to make a contest. Enter an original character that you've designed to be featured in my new story!

TO ENTER YOUR ORIGINAL CHARACTER:

Fill out the following information about your OC pony: Name, Age, Gender, Mane color/style, Coat color, Cutie mark, Earth-pony/unicorn/Pegasus, personality, any other info you want included

Message me your OC and the info, and title the message, "OC Entry". Press send.

Put your right hand across your chest and over your left shoulder and give yourself a pat on the back, because you just entered this contest :D

SOME GUIDELINES:

Try to be creative with your OC

NO ALICORNS. If you submit an alicorn, it will be taken out of the drawing. There are only two alicorns in Equestria, and they do NOT include your OC. You get wings, a horn, or neither. Only options.

Don't want to make a pony? You're welcome to send in a donkey, a buffalo, a diamond dog, a zebra, a cow, or a griffin. Just make them original

Once the last chapter of Ponyville High is completed (don't worry, I'll give you the date later), I will draw three OC's from random and announce the winners at the end of the last chapter. Those winners will be featured as characters in the two-part short story starring Fluttershy.

Thanks for entering!

-Cweecune and Commander


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